Covid-19 epidemic in Britain shrinking with 'R' number estimated below 1

The Covid-19 epidemic in Britain is thought to be shrinking slightly with the reproduction "R" number estimated to be below 1 after three weeks of national lockdown in England, UK government scientists said on Friday.

The number of new infections is shrinking by between 0% and 2% every day, the UK Government Office for Science said, after it was estimated to be growing between 0% and 2% in last week's release.

The R number was estimated to be between 0.9 and 1, meaning every 10 people infected will go on to infect between 9 and 10 people, down from last week's range of 1.0-1.1.